1 / 22

Book of Mormon Historicity:

Book of Mormon Historicity:. LDS Beliefs and Their Implications. Jon Adams A special thanks to my Facebook friends. The Book of Mormon. Published in 1830 Purports to be a translation by Joseph Smith of “a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas...”

skyler
Download Presentation

Book of Mormon Historicity:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Book of Mormon Historicity: LDS Beliefs and Their Implications Jon Adams A special thanks to my Facebook friends

  2. The Book of Mormon • Published in 1830 • Purports to be a translation by Joseph Smith of “a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas...” • BoM peoples are “among the principal ancestors of today's Native Americans.”

  3. Or...

  4. Why? Because it’s interesting!

  5. Seriously, why? • Mormonism's relevance • Political/cultural influence • 13 million members • Latin American growth • 1964: < 1% • 2004: 37% • Beliefs matter • Inform actions and attitudes • Importance of racial sensitivity in an increasingly diverse LDS Church

  6. Previous Research • Most literature on LDS Church and blacks • Slavery, Civil Rights Era and pre-1978 priesthood ban • Religious folklore about race pervasive among Mormons (Wilson) • Found in LDS scriptures • “White and delightsome” • Spencer W. Kimball's Oct 1960 talk

  7. Previous Research, cont. • Murphy's “Lamanite Identity” • Native/Latin Am. Mormons identify as descendants of BoM peoples • Conflate native folkore with Mormon folklore • Tension with white church hierarchy • 1989 excommunication of George P. Lee

  8. Methods • Created a 10-question BoM survey • Demographic questions (gender, age, etc.) • Questions about BoM, faith, and racism • Sent the survey to 200 Mormon friends via Facebook • 115 responded • Response rate: 57%

  9. Demographics • Gender • Male: 68% • Female: 32%

  10. Demographics • Age • 0-17: 4% • 18-24: 79% • 25-29: 12% • 30-34: 2% • 35+: 4%

  11. Demographics • Race • White: 95% • Hispanic: 6% • Native Am.: 2% • Bi/multiracial: 1%

  12. Church Membership • Born into church? • Yes: 93% • No; convert: 10%

  13. Church Activity • Attendance • Weekly: 81% • Monthly: 8% • Yearly: 3% • Inactive: 10%

  14. Book of Mormon Beliefs • BoM historical? • Yes: 90% • No: 10%

  15. Book of Mormon Beliefs • Historicity important to testimony? • Yes: 51% • Somewhat: 24% • No: 26%

  16. Book of Mormon Peoples • Who are BoM descendants? • Mesoamericans: 58% • Native Am.: 56% • South Am.: 51% • Pacific Islanders: 38% • Not sure: 38% • None: 6%

  17. Book of Mormon Peoples • Book of Mormon peoples... • Lost the promised land due to sin: 66% • Had their skin literally darkened due to sin: 53% • Are a covenant people like the Israelites: 88% • Should have a more prominent role in LDS Church: 6% • Should be prioritized in missionary work: 6%

  18. Racism • Is racism a problem in the LDS Church today? • Yes: 14% • Somewhat: 38% • No: 43% • Not sure: 9%

  19. Discussion • Support for Murphy's “Lamanite Identity” theory • All Hispanic respondents report high activity and believe BoM to be historical • 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM peoples lost land and had skin darkened because of unrighteousness(!) • 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM descendants should have a more prominent role in the church • vs. 4% of non-Hispanic respondents • 86% of Hispanic respondents identify Meso/South Americans as BoM descendants

  20. Discussion, cont. • Racism? • 71% of Hispanic respondents believed it's at least somewhat of a problem in the church • vs. 48% of non-Hispanics respondents • Disparity between BoM scholars and Mormon laity • Only 41% of Dialogue's subscribers believed that the BoM is a historical document • vs. 90% of my respondents who believe the same

  21. Further Research • The need for a systematic survey of Mormons both inside and outside the U.S. • Exploration into the rift between Mormon scholars and Mormon laity • Exploration into why people come to disbelieve in the BoM's historicity

  22. Questions?

More Related